Your kids and skiing

[wa-loaf]

This is my daughter Anneke at Wachusett:
View attachment 745

 

[SkiDork]

BTW - for anyone thinking of doing a leash with their 3 yo, definitely get a pair of snowblades. It makes it SOOOO much easier.

 

[Greg]

I'm not big on the leash thing. Never tried it so I'm kinda talking out my ass here, but I have to imagine that the little one sort of relies on you to control their speed and keep them upright. JimG. gave me a recommendation which I think is much better. Get yourself a tip-lock like this:

http://ecom1.sno-ski.com/product34.html

The one I have is called an Edgie-Wedgie. Ski backwards in front of your child. Hook a ski pole up underneath the tip lock and pull up on it slightly. This forces them into a wedge. You'll have to experiment with the positioning of it to get the right spacing. You can sort of control their speed, but they still have a feeling of independence and must balance themselves a bit. You can also guide them left and right by pulling on it to the side with the pole and this sort of forces their downhill ski into a turn. Remember to remove it at the bottom of the run though so they can get used to maneuvering around on the flats by skating. I started doing this on my last outing with my daughter last year and it worked extremely well. I plan to start with this approach next season.

 

[downhill04]

BTW - for anyone thinking of doing a leash with their 3 yo, definitely get a pair of snowblades. It makes it SOOOO much easier.

Now somebody says something.

My quads have never burned so bad in my life than after a day of “leash skiing with my 2y/o. I think my legs would rather make 15 consecutive non stop runs down the bumps of White Heat, than 2 top to bottom runs at Mohawk, slowing a 35lbs kid down by doing a snow plow the entire way. Feeling the burn just thinking about it.

 

[JimG.]

I'm not big on the leash thing. Never tried it so I'm kinda talking out my ass here, but I have to imagine that the little one sort of relies on you to control their speed and keep them upright. JimG. gave me a recommendation which I think is much better. Get yourself a tip-lock like this:

http://ecom1.sno-ski.com/product34.html

The one I have is called an Edgie-Wedgie. Ski backwards in front of your child. Hook a ski pole up underneath the tip lock and pull up on it slightly. This forces them into a wedge. You'll have to experiment with the positioning of it to get the right spacing. You can sort of control their speed, but they still have a feeling of independence and must balance themselves a bit. You can also guide them left and right by pulling on it to the side with the pole and this sort of forces their downhill ski into a turn. Remember to remove it at the bottom of the run though so they can get used to maneuvering around on the flats by skating. I started doing this on my last outing with my daughter last year and it worked extremely well. I plan to start with this approach next season.

Ah, the torch has been passed. My 4 year old James spent his last day this season without using the Edgie Wedgie at all...we're done using it, probably for good.

I do not like leashes, harnesses, or those bars an adult holds and kids can grab onto. The idea is to get little ones to stand up and ski...the Edgie Wedgie does the trick. Go Greg!

 

[Greg]

Ah, the torch has been passed. My 4 year old James spent his last day this season without using the Edgie Wedgie at all...we're done using it, probably for good.

I do not like leashes, harnesses, or those bars an adult holds and kids can grab onto. The idea is to get little ones to stand up and ski...the Edgie Wedgie does the trick. Go Greg!

Thank you Jim!

 

[wa-loaf]

I used a tip lock and a leash. (tried the kid-ski pole, waste of time and money) You have to use the leash correctly or it just becomes a break. I keep it loose all the time and pull on it occasionally to correct direction or to stop. I'm probably going to ditch both next year, since she became too dependant on the tip locks and freaked out whenever they came loose. She was really pushing to ski on her own by the end of this season too.

 

[marcski]

I'm not big on the leash thing. Never tried it so I'm kinda talking out my ass here, but I have to imagine that the little one sort of relies on you to control their speed and keep them upright. JimG. gave me a recommendation which I think is much better. Get yourself a tip-lock like this:

http://ecom1.sno-ski.com/product34.html

The one I have is called an Edgie-Wedgie. Ski backwards in front of your child. Hook a ski pole up underneath the tip lock and pull up on it slightly. This forces them into a wedge. You'll have to experiment with the positioning of it to get the right spacing. You can sort of control their speed, but they still have a feeling of independence and must balance themselves a bit. You can also guide them left and right by pulling on it to the side with the pole and this sort of forces their downhill ski into a turn. Remember to remove it at the bottom of the run though so they can get used to maneuvering around on the flats by skating. I started doing this on my last outing with my daughter last year and it worked extremely well. I plan to start with this approach next season.

My daughter turned 4 in January. I had a leash and the edgie wedgie which you have shown. After a couple of days...I had total slack in the leash...however, it was not until mid-March that I was able to convince her that she didn't need it anymore. She didn't need the edgie wedgie anymore in my opinion, as she was getting down greens and some mild blues...however she said "when I'm five I won't need the edgie wedgie" so I listened.

Don't push your kids whatever you do....take their lead on when to stop, when to play and when, hopefully, to ski as well. My daughter absolutely loves it. She skied five different ski areas in this her first season and loved going to new and different areas. She even took in some rays and tunes on the deck at Catamount on a beautiful sunny April spring skiing day.

 

[Greg]

My daughter turned 4 in January. I had a leash and the edgie wedgie which you have shown. After a couple of days...I had total slack in the leash...however, it was not until mid-March that I was able to convince her that she didn't need it anymore. She didn't need the edgie wedgie anymore in my opinion, as she was getting down greens and some mild blues...however she said "when I'm five I won't need the edgie wedgie" so I listened.

Don't push your kids whatever you do....take their lead on when to stop, when to play and when, hopefully, to ski as well. My daughter absolutely loves it. She skied five different ski areas in this her first season and loved going to new and different areas. She even took in some rays and tunes on the deck at Catamount on a beautiful sunny April spring skiing day.

Well said. Make the kids feel in control of the situation. When we rested, went inside, went home, etc. was all up to my daughter this season. The only instance of tough love was getting her to ride the chairlift. I negotiated with her about it for several outings. Leading up to her last day she seemed very excited about riding it, but when it came down to it, she wouldn't go for it. After an hour-long debate, I quickly scooped her up and we got on the lift. She didn't enjoy that first ride, but once at the top, she couldn't wait to do it again. It was a tough call to make, but it worked out well in the end. Now the magic carpet is "for babies" according to her... :lol:

 

[downhill04]

I tried the edgie wedgie approach and it led to my sons first ever yard sale. My wife was good enough to get a pic

Just after this crash I went in and bought a leash, used that and the edgie wedgie. By the end of the season the leash was flapping in the wind as he no longer needed me to slow him down or assist with his turns. Next year we plan to ditch the leash and stick solely to the edgie wedgie

 

[SkiDork]

OK, FWIW here's the benefit of my experience...

1) 3 years old is the only year they'll be doing the leash.

2) The leash is a lot of fun with snowblades. It SUX with regular length skis. With the blades, I could just pop tight slalom turns all day long behind them. I was having just as much fun as they were/

3) John Macawley (K instructor and friend) told me this: JUST LET THEM GO STRAIGHT AND AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!!!

i.e. don't bother teaching them to turn while on the leash, just get them hooked on the thrill of speed.

Those 3 things really worked out well for my 2 kids.

YMMV...

 

[Angus]

as I said in my earlier post, there is a thread floating around discussing the pros & cons of using the harness/leash. I used it last year (age 4/1st year on the ski hill) b/c we bypassed the magic carpet/beginner hill completely. Tossed her on a chair lift and went to the top - full immersion teaching strategy! I needed to monitor the 10 year old brother so needed to ski the same lifts! For me it was nothing more than peace of mind on a steeper slope.

My technique was to keep it slack as much as possible and I would parallel edge behind (if that's the right description) instead of snow plow which could definitely beat up the legs! Occasionally, you do catch them using the harness as a break. It's strange how my daughter (do to young age I think) intuitively understood where how to turn her skis. I also noticed - not surprising - a huge difference in endurance and focus between age 4 and 5.

Skiing at Sunapee over Patriot's weekend - my daughter was reaching down and grabbing big balls of loose snow, packing it into a snow ball and tossing them at me as we played "follow the leader" - lots of follow the leader!

 

[Grassi21]

Ah, the torch has been passed. My 4 year old James spent his last day this season without using the Edgie Wedgie at all...we're done using it, probably for good.

I do not like leashes, harnesses, or those bars an adult holds and kids can grab onto. The idea is to get little ones to stand up and ski...the Edgie Wedgie does the trick. Go Greg!

Jim tried to get me to use this at Hunter back in December but I flat out refused. ;-)

I'm already studying up on the best way to get my unborn child into skiing. This sport is truly captivating!

 

[kickstand]

I'm already studying up on the best way to get my unborn child into skiing. This sport is truly captivating!

my twins are 4 months old today and I've already started researching and asking around about when to start them, so I've just been taking in everything on this thread. Seeing the turn it has taken, with harnesses and leashes and such, I wonder how I will have to approach that. Hopefully my wife will still be interested enough in skiing for their first few years on the slopes that we can split the responsibility. It will get really interesting for me when they really start progressing to tougher terrain.

 

[Grassi21]

my twins are 4 months old today and I've already started researching and asking around about when to start them, so I've just been taking in everything on this thread. Seeing the turn it has taken, with harnesses and leashes and such, I wonder how I will have to approach that. Hopefully my wife will still be interested enough in skiing for their first few years on the slopes that we can split the responsibility. It will get really interesting for me when they really start progressing to tougher terrain.

Wifey got me into skiing. I'm just hoping the kid gets into it. The nice part is we have a section of our yard that is kind of wide and has varying degrees of slope depending on where you stand. It will be a nice little place to practice when he or she is just starting out. I have jokingly named it Grassi' Bowl. My wife just laughs at me when I talk about the Bowl.

 

[wa-loaf]

I'm already studying up on the best way to get my unborn child into skiing. This sport is truly captivating!

When i was 1-2 my dad would just put me in a backpack and ski around with me. Can you imagine trying to pull that off these days! :-o Anyway it seemed to get me hooked before I even got on skis. :smile:

 

[downhill04]

Wifey got me into skiing. I'm just hoping the kid gets into it. The nice part is we have a section of our yard that is kind of wide and has varying degrees of slope depending on where you stand. It will be a nice little place to practice when he or she is just starting out. I have jokingly named it Grassi' Bowl. My wife just laughs at me when I talk about the Bowl.

I never gave my yard a skiing name but my son has one.

When my wife was pregnant and we were throwing names around, I kept telling her “If it’s a boy we are going to name him Brecken, Tucker for Breckenridge and Tuckerman’s ravine. If it’s a girl we can name her Sugar, Bush for what else Sugarbush” The look on my mothers face was priceless the first time I told her the girl name.

Now I was seriously just joking around but I kept saying it over and over just to fire up my wife who said flat out “NO WAY!” When my son was born my wife looks up at me and says “You said the name Brecken so much that I really like it now. Can we name him Brecken, but with an IN at the end instead of EN?”

Stunned that she actually wanted to name our child somewhat after a ski resort I said “we can’t do that.” But as with just about everything else, the wife gets what she wants and our son is named Breckin. She didn’t go for the Tucker middle name though

 

[Grassi21]

I never gave my yard a skiing name but my son has one.

When my wife was pregnant and we were throwing names around, I kept telling her “If it’s a boy we are going to name him Brecken, Tucker for Breckenridge and Tuckerman’s ravine. If it’s a girl we can name her Sugar, Bush for what else Sugarbush” The look on my mothers face was priceless the first time I told her the girl name.

Now I was seriously just joking around but I kept saying it over and over just to fire up my wife who said flat out “NO WAY!” When my son was born my wife looks up at me and says “You said the name Brecken so much that I really like it now. Can we name him Brecken, but with an IN at the end instead of EN?”

Stunned that she actually wanted to name our child somewhat after a ski resort I said “we can’t do that.” But as with just about everything else, the wife gets what she wants and our son is named Breckin. She didn’t go for the Tucker middle name though

Wow. I'm just hoping I get to name the next dog.

 

[wa-loaf]

I never gave my yard a skiing name but my son has one.

When my wife was pregnant and we were throwing names around, I kept telling her “If it’s a boy we are going to name him Brecken, Tucker for Breckenridge and Tuckerman’s ravine. If it’s a girl we can name her Sugar, Bush for what else Sugarbush” The look on my mothers face was priceless the first time I told her the girl name.

Now I was seriously just joking around but I kept saying it over and over just to fire up my wife who said flat out “NO WAY!” When my son was born my wife looks up at me and says “You said the name Brecken so much that I really like it now. Can we name him Brecken, but with an IN at the end instead of EN?”

Stunned that she actually wanted to name our child somewhat after a ski resort I said “we can’t do that.” But as with just about everything else, the wife gets what she wants and our son is named Breckin. She didn’t go for the Tucker middle name though

Ha! I joked with my wife that our kids names need to sound good on the world cup podium. We both have German backgrounds so I kinda got my way with Anneke and Fritz!

 

[kickstand]

I never gave my yard a skiing name but my son has one.

When my wife was pregnant and we were throwing names around, I kept telling her “If it’s a boy we are going to name him Brecken, Tucker for Breckenridge and Tuckerman’s ravine. If it’s a girl we can name her Sugar, Bush for what else Sugarbush” The look on my mothers face was priceless the first time I told her the girl name.

Now I was seriously just joking around but I kept saying it over and over just to fire up my wife who said flat out “NO WAY!” When my son was born my wife looks up at me and says “You said the name Brecken so much that I really like it now. Can we name him Brecken, but with an IN at the end instead of EN?”

Stunned that she actually wanted to name our child somewhat after a ski resort I said “we can’t do that.” But as with just about everything else, the wife gets what she wants and our son is named Breckin. She didn’t go for the Tucker middle name though

My wife's cousin will name her new baby Jackson - as in Jackson, NH - if it's a boy. They named the dog Tucker.

BTW, there is a precedence for Breckin:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005227/